


Now That I've Found You, Stay

by yormgen



Series: Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You [3]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Crushes, F/F, F/M, Gen, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pining, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-10 22:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11136375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yormgen/pseuds/yormgen
Summary: Makoto remembers Haru, just a few hours earlier, using Makoto's phone to text Akira about joining Makoto for a study session. Haru didn't have the height to hold the phone out of Makoto's desperate reach while she typed, but she was impressively nimble. When the deed had been done, Haru had smiled her sweetest and let Makoto know she'd wait to have the favor returned.





	Now That I've Found You, Stay

"Listen, I've been studying it for a long time now," Futaba informs them one day, gesturing wildly and speaking fast. "He fits the trope, the type who can dish it out, but he can't take it! Beat him at his own game! It's the only way."

 

Ann crosses her legs under the booth. "I don't think you're supposed to call someone's personality trait a trope."

 

Ryuji frowns and hunches over the back of a bar stool. "So, you're telling us to just flirt with him? That's your big plan on stealin' his heart?"

 

"Yes!" Futaba says, exasperated, while Morgana stretches quietly across her lap. "He does it all the time, dropping those casual compliments you're not ready for, sitting too close..."

 

Yusuke nods gravely. "At first, I thought he simply didn't have a filter, but his flirtations do seem a bit too calculated for that."

 

"Okay, and?" Ryuji decides to let the irony of Yusuke judging someone else's verbal filter slide. There are more pressing issues. "Say we try to throw it back at him. What do we do when he responds with something even smoother, huh?"

 

Futaba rolls her eyes. "You're not paying attention! You don't have to worry that far ahead, he'll be too caught off guard! Get one good line on him and he'll go down, one-hit-KO!"

 

Ann sighs and swirls a spoon in her mug. "Are we trying to court him or fight him?"

 

If Sojiro's actually been following their conversation at all from behind the bar, he's making a good show of acting like he isn't.

 

 

 

Akira feels as though there's been a shift recently. He's not entirely sure whether it's within himself or with everyone around him, and it's almost making him anxious. He wants to call it tension, or apprehension, but it doesn't feel like anything so harsh.

 

His friends always have made up for the energy he can't usually muster. They have an insistent, blind optimism that can lead them into trouble, so he can't usually allow himself to get stuck in his own head for very long when he's attending to them. 

 

Akira wouldn't go so far as to say they were being avoidant, but they've been flitting around him for a while, keeping busy, like there's a secret that none of them are ready to open up about. He doesn't want to push, because there doesn't seem to be anything seriously wrong. But now, walking home alone, not being able to ground himself with any company is giving him too much time to  _think_.

 

"Morgana," he says softly. His bag rumbles until he feels the weight of two small paws on his shoulder. "Are the others planning something?"

 

Morgana settles and presses his head under Akira's jaw. "How would I know?" He almost sounds like he's purring.

 

Akira narrows his eyes. "You've spent a lot of time with Futaba, lately."

 

"And?" Morgana nuzzles him sweetly. "We're looking into the new passage of Mementos. We want to know what we're getting into."

 

Fair enough. Akira hums and lets Morgana's purring distract him for the rest of his walk.

 

 

 

It shouldn't, but it does surprise them all that Makoto breaks first and makes an actual move.

 

 

 **Makoto** : :)

 

 **Ann** : ?

 

_Makoto Niijima has sent an image_

 

 **Makoto** : :)

 

 **Haru** : Oh!

 

 **Ryuji** : WH

 

 **Yusuke** : Ah.

 

 **Ann** : What! MAKOTO!!!

 

 

Makoto turns her phone to silent and looks up at Akira, still adjusting the high collar of his uniform over the red bite mark on his neck.

 

He smiles at her, face still flushed, lips still bruised. "Did you just take a picture of me?"

 

"Sorry," she says and he can tell that she isn't. "I wanted to brag a little."

 

"Brag? To who?"

 

 

 **Futaba** : Wow! Makoto won the race! Σ(⊙ロ⊙)

 

 **Futaba** : Some good all that track training did you, Ryuji!

 

 **Ryuji** : shaddup! what does that even have to do with this!

 

 **Makoto** : I wouldn't say it was a race. That implies that only one of us could win.

 

 **Makoto** : I would just say,

 

 **Makoto** : that I got there first. :)

 

 **Ryuji** : !!!

 

 **Haru** : \\(^ヮ^)/

 

 **Yusuke** : Truly remarkable.

 

 

Makoto closes the app. "Just the others. I hope you don't mind them knowing."

 

"No, I don't," Akira says confidently, and runs his hand through his hair. "But if anyone's bragging, shouldn't it be me?"

 

 _He's so dense that it's cute_ , Makoto thinks viscously. "You're sweet, but I mean it. After Ann told me she fed you crepes in Shibuya the other day I wanted to step up my game."

 

"Ann? That was..." Akira looks almost as flustered as he had earlier, being dragged to Makoto's empty apartment, shoved onto the couch and straddled; Makoto thinks it's a good look on him. "Regardless," he says instead of processing that, "What about you and Haru?

 

Makoto blinks. "Me and Haru?"

 

"Yeah, aren't you two...?" Akira trails, watching Makoto's bewildered expression. "Oh. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to disrupt anything."

 

Shaking her head, Makoto breathes out a small laugh. "... You are ridiculous, you know that?"

 

"I've been told, but no one likes to tell me why."

 

Makoto remembers Haru, just a few hours earlier, using Makoto's phone to text Akira about joining Makoto for a study session. Haru didn't have the height to hold the phone out of Makoto's desperate reach while she typed, but she was impressively nimble. When the deed had been done, Haru had smiled her sweetest and let Makoto know she'd wait to have the favor returned.

 

"Well," Makoto manages, "don't worry about Haru."

 

 

 

Akira should have worried about Haru. Not because of a jealous feud or anything so dramatic, but because Haru was a dangerous combination of unfailingly honest and shameless.

 

"Aki-kun," she says easily, falling into step between him and Makoto by the school gates. "Mako-chan told me you taught her a lot last week!"

 

Makoto sputters and Akira can imagine he's turning as red as she is.

 

Haru giggles and places her hand against the crook of his elbow. "I don't think Mako-chan told me  _everything..._ "

 

"Haru,  _please_ ," Makoto begs _._

 

"But the photo she sent to our group chat was very telling," Haru walks on her tiptoes and tilts her head, as if looking for any remaining traces of Makoto's love bite. Haru is being ridiculous intentionally, and if she's trying to make Akira laugh, it works.

 

"I've heard," he says into his palm, smothering a grin. "So there really is a secret group chat for you all to pick on me behind my back?"

 

Makoto huffs, but Haru smiles. "That's not what we use it for," she says sincerely, even though they all know he was joking.

 

"Originally," Makoto begins, "we made the second group chat as a space to discuss non-infiltration matters without overwhelming your phone later at night."

 

Akira feels Morgana shift quietly in his bag and assumes it was a reaction of approval. "You said 'originally'. What do you use it for now?"

 

"I told you," Makoto says, although he's positive she certainly did not. "We sometimes use it to brag."

 

He supposes she did mention something like that. "To brag?"

 

"About getting to spend time with you," Haru explains so simply, smiling at him so warmly. She takes Makoto's arm in the same fashion she holds Akira's, linking the three of them together. "Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll have something special to share with the group soon, too."

 

Akira and Makoto both blush.

 

 

 

Akira has no clue how Futaba found out about his spanning collection of crushes, but he's not very surprised. She's very resourceful and he has the good sense to know he isn't very subtle.

 

Futaba is sitting on his bed, staring at him hard. Morgana is curled against her side. Akira isn't sure if cats can smirk, but Morgana looks amused to him.

 

"So," Futaba says in a tone that make Akira feel like he might be in trouble.

 

He tries his best to meet and hold her gaze from the couch. "So."

 

"Ugh," Morgana says. Akira thinks he might know how Futaba found out after all. "Is this still happening? Or are Makoto and Haru the only ones that aren't going to be the  _worst_  anymore?"

 

Futaba hauls Morgana into her lap and carefully pinches both of his cheeks. She doesn't break eye contact with Akira.

 

Akira quickly decides to look at Morgana's stretched, traitorous little face instead of meeting Futaba's piercing stare while he picks his words. "So," he starts again. "I don't think I could have helped it. All of you are the most amazing people I could have found in Tokyo. You all probably saved my life."

 

Futaba can only hold the intensity on her face for a few moments before she breaks, releasing Morgana. She puffs her flushed cheeks as though she's angry, but her eyes go soft. "What the hell... Who do you think you  _are_ ," she sounds as helpless as he feels, "just  _saying_  cute things like that?"

 

"Oh my god," Morgana mumbles from somewhere behind Akira, far from Futaba's hands. Akira's not sure he's ever heard Morgana sound so fond. "You're all hopeless _."_

 

 

 

 **Futaba:** So, what are you going to do about Nishima?

 

 

Akira studies the text for a moment before putting together what she probably means.

 

 

 **Akira** : You mean Mishima? I'm pretty sure he only likes girls?

 

 **Futaba** : ... lmaooo, Akira... my sweet summer child...

 

 

 

Yusuke presses the paintbrush between Akira's bare shoulder blades and moves it down his spine. The paint is cold and the bristles of the brush kind of tickle, but Akira does his best not to shiver.

 

When Yusuke said that he wanted to experiment with mixed media and unconventional canvases, Akira hadn't thought much of it when giving his support. He hadn't considered the chance Yusuke would talk him into laying on his stomach, shirtless on the attic floor while Yusuke hovers over him, creating God-knows-what on his back. He doesn't think it's unreasonable for him to have not considered this.

 

"What are you painting?" Akira says into his arms, folded delicately under his head.

 

Yusuke doesn't pause, quickly hatching brush strokes up Akira's shoulder. "Just a simple landscape. As this is the first time I've tried a human canvas, I didn't want to try anything too unconventional until I had a feel for it." Yusuke gently brushes Akira's hair away from his neck before continuing to paint up to Akira's nape.

 

Akira hums his assent. "Well," he says lightly, trying not to think about how nice someone else's fingers feel in his hair. "Make me a master piece, Yusuke."

 

Yusuke takes his hand away from Akira's neck. "You wouldn't need my help for that," he says softly, moving his hand to Akira's hip.

 

Akira shivers.

 

 

 

Ann saves the photo Yusuke sends to the group chat and turns to show it to Ryuji, who groans like she figures he would.

 

Ann and Ryuji had always been a formidable duo when they worked together, even before their days as Thieves. When Ann thought hard about the toughest things she'd overcome in Japan, she remembers tackling everything scary with Ryuji by her side just as often as she remembers Shiho with her.

 

It made sense to Ann for her and Ryuji to tackle this together too. Objectively, it wasn't the scariest thing she'd ever had to do, but it was up there in her list of things where the outcome Really Truly Mattered, which she'd accepted wasn't something she could do without support.

 

Right now, Ryuji's scowling, and Ann doesn't think it's really from Yusuke's photo anymore. "This is cliché, even for you, y'know."

 

"A movie is a totally normal courting date!" She snaps back, because if he makes her lose her nerve when she's trying to use him for moral support she doesn't know what she'll do. "Besides, if it's dark when we flirt with him, it'll be harder to get embarrassed if I can't see him, right?!"

 

"Isn't this just weird though?" He's still frowning, which is making Ann frown. "Aren't dates supposed to be one on one? Or four people or whatever? What the fuck are three people supposed to do?"

 

Ann stamps her foot defiantly. "Makoto and Haru are making it work!" This is something Ann has found a lot of comfort in, thank you. "We're all gonna make this work! Stop worrying about what normal people do and  _help me_!"

 

Ryuji sighs, as if not helping Ann with anything she wanted was something he'd ever be capable of. He spots Akira's making his way past the Station Square, that fluffy mop of hair is hard to miss. Ryuji kicks up dirt on the road in front of the theater. "What are we even seeing?"

 

"Some thriller Haru recommended, she said it would make for good excuses to reach out for him."

 

Ryuji looks to the sky and debates if it's worth pretending like he knows how to pray for help.

 

 

There's no telling which aspects of Ann and Ryuji's holding and clinging to him were calculated, but Akira’s reactions to being pressed between them in the dark of a near empty theater get the desired results in the end.

 

 

 

Everything that had entered Leblanc since Akira arrived had taken an adjustment period. Sojiro felt that his cafe had probably seen more action the past 7 months than he had in years.

 

The constant presence of teenagers had been one of the easier to cope with, if anything, because Akira had good taste in friends. He knew their secrets, but they'd each charmed him in their own ways, all of them so genuine and earnest despite being so young.

 

He watches them crowd around Akira the moment Sae returns him from the clinic, cuts cleaned, bruises iced, fractures tended. He still looks like he'd been dragged through hell, but those kids hold onto him like a lifeline, eyes wet like they're seeing a miracle. He supposes they are.

 

They settle, and any of them sitting close enough to him keep a hand on Akira while they explain their methods. A few times, Sojiro gets distracted watching Yusuke lean against the booth nearest, hand gently pressed to Akira's back to rub soothing circles whenever he catches a flash of the still-fresh aches.

 

Akira hits his limit within an hour. Sojiro watches Ryuji wrap his arm around Akira's waist, Yusuke to Akira's other side to be leaned on for support. They haul Akira up the stairs to lay him down, Ann and Makoto following close. Haru pauses to consider whatever the cat is meowing about, and rummages in the fridge to bag some ice before following up as well. Futaba fidgets at the end of the bar.

 

Sojiro blinks at her, patient. "I'm going to lock up and head home soon," he tells her. "Take your time, but don't walk home in the dark alone. I'll see you in the morning."

 

Futaba's in the attic before Sojiro can reach the door. He looks to Sae, who's looking upwards thoughtfully. "The last trains will stop running soon," she muses, standing to join him. "But I'll go ahead and drive home. Do you mind Makoto staying here for the night?"

 

He wants to be surprised at her, but he knows she's no more blind then he is. Those kids aren't separating anytime soon. "Nah," he says. "They're all fine here."

**Author's Note:**

> this fandom has been the first thing i've written and published fan fiction for in about 9 years, so the sweet comments and support i've gotten for writing this series really do mean more to me than you know. without you guys, i don't know if i would have seen it through! but i'm glad i did, so thank you.
> 
> even though it was the quickest in the series to write, it probably went through the most editing. i cut a lot of paragraphs and scenes from this that i'd like to re-purpose into future fics! i hope you'll enjoy those too, i have a lot i still want to write for these sweet kids.
> 
> thank you again for sticking with me! please come talk p5 to me on twitter [(@yyormgen)](https://twitter.com/yyormgen) or check out my other work on tumblr [(@tolbyccia)](http://tolbyccia.tumblr.com/).


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